De Phillippi Enjoying Next Step in BMW Career in Mentorship Role

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/BMW

Connor De Phillippi says he’s been enjoying the latest step in his BMW career, as he take on a mentorship role in his full-time return to GT racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The 33-year-old, who spent two seasons in BMW’s GTP effort, returned to GT3 competition last year, winning the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS Pro title with Random Vandals Racing alongside a Michelin Endurance Cup program with GTD Pro squad Paul Miller Racing.

De Phillippi is now embarking on his first season-long WeatherTech Championship GTD Pro program since 2022, sharing Paul Miller Racing’s No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO with Neil Verhagen.

“Being full time with Paul Miller Racing is a great opportunity,” he told Sportscar365. “It’s one of the best teams in the paddock. Having Neil as my teammate, we have a very good combination.

“I think I’m able to bring my experience from all my years in IMSA, so I’m able to bleed some of that on to the team in terms of little stuff, and performance-wise, there’s no shortage there.

“It’s been really fun because Neil is at the point, more or less where I joined BMW. I kind of look at him like my little brother in a way because I know where he was eight years ago.”

De Phillippi added: “We have a really good dynamic. We have very similar personalities and we both understand what our role is within the team.

“I’m excited about it because it makes us, as drivers, there’s no ego. It’s like you’re focused on your task. He’s the qualifying guy for the season and I’ll be the race finisher guy for the season.

“I think it’s good when drivers have a mutual understanding of that and we all have the same goal, which is to go out there, score points every weekend.

“Our goal is the championship. We understand that not every weekend you’re going to be able to win or be in a position to win.

“The best we can do is run clean races and put ourselves in a position to always score good points.”

De Phillippi and Verhagen kicked off the season with GTD Pro class victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona alongside Verhagen’s former fellow BMW juniors Max Hesse and Dan Harper.

While currently sitting second in points entering this weekend’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, De Phillippi said his new team leader/mentorship role within the squad initially came up rather unexpectedly.

“I’ve been able to establish myself with BMW for nine years,” he said. “But it’s crazy that it’s been that long already. I signed at the end of 2017.

“It’s funny. You go from the youngest driver on the roster to being in the middle of the road [age-wise].

“It gives me that advantage to know where they’ve been, I know the thoughts that are going through their mind and I can help them avoid any mistakes they may make in those early stages.

“When you’re young like that, it’s easy to think you always have to prove yourself. But Neil is a very established guy now. He’s proven that he’s very quick and he’s had multiple seasons of IMSA racing under his belt.

“He’s kind of in that transition phase to my direction and the best I can do is lend my experience in that.

“Him two years ago to be my teammate, it would have been a completely different situation but now, he has the confidence to go out there and do his thing. He has the experience.

“I think this makes us a lethal combination for the full season and that’s going to be our full focus for the year.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John